There is only one thing better than having your own business and that is ‘turning your business into a successful one’. There are a lot of factors that define the success of your business and you should learn how to govern these factors and not let these factors govern your business. What it means is that there are things to do before starting a business which will increase the chances of your success and decrease the possibility of failure.
“To
be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business
in your heart” – Thomas Watson
As we have already discussed in our previous blogs that how more than fifty percent of start-ups fail to even complete the 5-year stage and almost 70% fail to complete the 10-year mark. Nobody wants that, everybody has dreams to make their start-up into a successful one but what they forget is to follow the process. A process is always required to start one thing and then taking it to the heights. Today we will discuss the things you need to do when starting a business.
Starting
a new business is not an easy thing to do. A lot of sacrifices are made and a number
of challenges are overcome to even start a business and when that start-up
collapses, a lot of efforts, money, dreams and an idea all are wasted.
A start-up is the best thing you can do to earn something in today’s world. It might be tough, tiring and stressful when you look at the things to do when starting a new business but with the right steps and following the process, success is guaranteed. Now, let’s take a look at the process we were talking about.
The
first thing
to do when starting a business is to have a business idea but I
assume if you are here and looking about this, then you already have a business
idea. So we will not discuss much but no matter how much you think your idea is
unique, there are always people who had the same idea. So, if you are not
offering something really unique, better or cheaper than others, you might want
to re-evaluate your idea.
Now,
let’s focus on the real things at hand.
The foremost important thing to do when starting a business is to
assess all the risks associated with that business. To understand more about
this topic, please read Risk Assessment before starting a business blog.
Research
is your best friend when you own a start-up. You need to find everything that
governs the success of your business. Understanding the market and the needs of
the customers should be the top priority of your research. There are many companies that might not be
selling the best product in their space but they did their research and know
the market and hence are successful.
You
need to understand the industry you want to be involved in, to dominate it.
Focus your research on the legal aspects too; if there is something that can
sabotage your business operation then make sure you are legally prepared to act
against it.
Being
a young entrepreneur is not easy, it is very tiresome and you will often feel
that there are thousands of things that need to be done at the same time with
not many hours in the day. So it is very important that you need to find your
passion in what you do. If your start-up is related to your passion then you
will drive the energy required to do the things anyhow. Let’s just say your
passion is about fishes and you own a sports shop, and then you are trying to
justify that this is right. No, it is not.
Finding
your passion in itself is a very difficult thing sometimes but if you find it
then stick to it, then work will become your playtime and not work anymore.
Always remember why and how you started your business and then let your passion
drive you to success.
“Passion
is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”- Oprah
Winfrey
Now
you might think that you know everything about your startup and you can get it
to success without any help. Okay, you may be right but consider that, there
are people who have already achieved that success you are dreaming of. They
already know what to do and what pitfalls to avoid. A mentor is not a teacher
who will scold you if you do something wrong, a mentor just guides you towards
the right path, taking it or not is always your choice.
“Find
a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of
being an entrepreneur” – Jodi Levine.
Let’s
just say that you want to open a restaurant in your locality, then you need to
find someone who does own a successful restaurant but not anywhere around your
area so that the person doesn’t concern you like any kind of competitor to
them. Now, he can provide you with valuable aspects and things which can help you
grow as they have already faced those issues and came up on top of them.
What
a mentor can do for you cannot be short-sighted, every time you face a problem,
you can just go to them and they will help you. They may have not faced the same
problem but with their resources, they can always come up with a solution faster
then you and that’s why you need a mentor.
Many
young entrepreneurs make the mistake of starting a big business and then fail
to handle it which leads to failure. So, it’s better to start small and then
take it to success, maybe with baby steps as it is better to be slow and steady
than to rush and fail eventually. If possible, invest your own money in the
start-up and when you start earning, invest that money to grow your business.
“A
small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you
live in” – Nicole Snow.
If
your investments are not enough to grow your business, then only you look
towards loans or investors. Starting small is also a key to success as the burden
will not be much and you can actually focus on everything.
Always
work on your message, you need to convey a powerful one to the customers and
the competitors that you mean business. Your message can easily determine the
success or failure of your business. If the message to your customers is not
clear that what you are selling or providing, then they will not pay any
attention to you.
And
the message should be also to your competitors that you got a product or
service which will challenge theirs and how yours is better than theirs.
There
are many examples of advertisements where you will find that the ads are not
clear about what they are selling so you end up not paying attention to it. The
same goes for your message so use the correct words and deliver the message.
Last
but certainly not least, always keep an eye where you are spending your money
and whether it is in the best interest of your business or not. You might have
a cash flow right now but sooner or later you will experience the shortage of
money because it happens to everyone. Everything related to a start-up requires
money from starting up to expanding and growing.
Another
useful tip is to not use the money generated from the business. Keep it for
growing the business.
These
are pretty much everything you need to do when starting a new business.
Everybody knows that the process is long and not subtle but being your own
boss, taking your own decision and reaping the rewards of your hard work sounds
too ecstatic to ignore. Whether you start a small business or a big one, always
believe in the process and follow it. Make sure that you are following your
passion and then give it all you got.
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